


You Put the Life into Living

by LegoTea



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: Banter, Birth, Character Death, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Missing Scene, Pregnancy, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2019-02-04
Packaged: 2019-05-16 18:43:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 30
Words: 12,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14816799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LegoTea/pseuds/LegoTea
Summary: Drabbles of Peter and Gamora throughout the years.(Chapter 26 has a major character death.)(Chapter 29 has an unplanned pregnancy.)(Chapter 30 has childbirth.)





	1. First Kiss

The first time she kisses Peter, he's dying. His lips are chapped, blood pools around him from under his back, she's got one hand clamped down on his stomach and his blood congeals with the last of the antibiotic foam. The first thing she's doing after getting Peter to a hospital is buy out half a pharmacy. 

He sighs happily when their lips part and says, “Guess I should've been in life threatening danger before.”

“You were,” she says, combing his hair and glancing at the mobile heart monitor.

“But what's different?”

“I _wanted_ to kiss you this time.”

“Oh.”


	2. Partners

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter signs up to go on a mission alone with Gamora (takes place between Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.)

“I'll go with you,” Peter volunteers.

“Are you sure?”

“Hey, look at that, no ‘I work best alone,’ or, ‘Don't even think about it.’”

“It will be dangerous.”

“Yeah, but it'll be less dangerous with both of us. I got your back.”

Gamora smiles a bit at that.

“I'm gonna hurl!” Rocket yells from across the room.

Peter groaned. “Hey!”

“Take your daytime soap opera outta here.” Rocket waves a paw at them. “Go on, get.”

“How do you even know what a soap opera is?” Peter asks, and Gamora takes his arm and leads him to the unloading bay.


	3. Care

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter checks in on Gamora after a mission (a couple months after Volume 2).

It’s business as usual after the Guardians complete another mission. Peter doesn’t touch Gamora as they head onto the ship, but after everyone splits up, he immediately turns to her, cupping her face with one hand and putting the other over her forehead.

“Close one,” he says, scrutinizing her browline where there’s a long scrape, then kisses it.

“That’s the last time you go anywhere near an electrical outlet.”

“You sure you don’t need to go to the.... hospital? Xandar’s only a few jumps away.”

She shakes her head.

“Oh, good,” he says, then hurries to get the medical kit.


	4. Late-Night Urge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter tragically has to leave his and Gamora’s bed for a couple minutes. She has some trouble accepting that at first (several months after Volume 2.)

Peter had to go to the bathroom.

Unfortunately, he was in a very tough position. Gamora was spooning him in their bed, and he didn’t want to get up.

He tried fighting off the urge and squeezed his eyes shut, wiling himself to go back to sleep, but he couldn’t.

Quietly and carefully, he tried sneaking out of bed. He scooted toward the edge of the mattress, but Gamora instinctively tightened her arms around him.

He waited for a few seconds, then tried shuffling away from her again. She squeezed him closer to her chest, burying her head against his neck.

“Babe,” he whispered, “I’m sorry, but I gotta go.”

“Mmmph,” she mumbled against his neck.

“That's a convincing argument and all, but I really _do_ have to go. Two minutes, I promise.”

When he attempted to slide away from her, he almost made it out of bed, but she snapped him back toward her, throwing a possessive leg around him.

“Alright, then,” he said, keeping his voice low and teasing, “I guess you'll have something _else_ warmer than me in the bed soon enough.”

She loosened her grip and he bolted away, but he was laughing under his breath.


	5. Impression

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter thinks about his first impression of Gamora, and how he's come to think of her over time (right around Volume 2.)

When he laid eyes on Gamora, the first thing that came to his mind was, “ _Holy shit_ ,” followed by the words, “hot, leather,” and “I am _so_ jealous of that fruit.” Specifically in that order.

When he later asked her what she'd first thought when she saw him on Xandar, she said, “Oh, something like, ‘This'll be easy,’” with a shrug.

The thing about Gamora was, she wasn't like most people Peter knew. She could knock three goons on their butts in the blink of an eye and make short work of them with her deadly sword. But she also smiled wider than any of the other Guardians when little Groot learned to emit light spores.

She spent most nights sharpening her blades, then put them away to plait her vibrant hair before getting into her bunk. She leapt across wide caverns without hesitation as the others crossed rickety bridges, and she groaned at them impatiently to keep up. And whenever they collected their units after a mission, Peter caught a flash of something that looked like hope in her eyes, as she asked their commissioners if they saw her sister.

She rolled her eyes when he told her dumb jokes. She listened to him with both curiosity and intensity as he told her stories of his childhood, getting drunker by the minute. She saved his and Drax’s asses more times than he could count, and she could spend hours on ‘night’ watch in the cockpit with Rocket, both of them sitting in comfortable silence as Gamora checked the comm link for jobs as Rocket tinkered with his weaponry.

Gamora was _special_ , and for the first time, Peter truly understood the meaning of love in all the songs, movies, and shows he whiled away hours on when he was a kid. Long before she was taken from him, when his mother told him stories before he fell asleep, he’d fidget and grumble about “that mushy stuff,” which always made her laugh, tousle his hair, and tell him, “Someday, you’ll understand why it’s so important.”

When he looked at Gamora now - months after their fateful meeting on Xandar - and she’d return his glance with a quirk of her brows and once in a rare while, a softness in her eyes with a hint of a smile playing on her lips, Peter understood why love was such a big deal, after all.


	6. Divulgence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter confesses his brief desire to join Ego, and why he rejected the Light. (Takes place about 1-2 weeks after Volume 2.)

They were in the large bed together, cuddling as they watched the stars through the large transparent wall. It was still taking time for Peter to adjust to staying in Yondu’s room. Though he was starting to shake the feeling of intruding in his father’s space, the feel of Gamora next to him helped him feel more at home.

“I wanted to join him, you know,” he murmured. “Ego.”

Beside him, Gamora’s breath caught in her throat.He continued, half-wishing he could take it back, but knowing he needed to be honest with her. “When he showed me Eternity, I wanted to rule the universe with him.”

Gamora let out a long exhalation of breath. After a long stretch of silence passed between them, she asked, “What stopped you?”

“My mother,” Peter admitted.

When Gamora placed her hand on his cheek, he leaned into her soothing touch. He had already told her what his farce of a ‘father’ did to his mother. He also explained being shown Eternity, and that it felt similar to holding the Power Stone, times ten. But  he had omitted the part in between, the part that weighed on him since that awful day. Maybe that’s why he needed time to explain himself, because he’d wanted to avoid that truth, however brief, until now. “If Ego hadn’t told me he killed her, you and the others would all be dead.”

Gamora shifted closer to his body, curing her leg around his front. “Is it wrong that I’m glad he told you?” she whispered.

“Nah,” Peter whispered back. His heart still ached with loss (of losing _both_ of his real parents), but Gamora’s gentle, comforting touch, the feel of her warmth against him, helped ease the pain. “He got what was coming to him.”

“I shouldn’t have encouraged you to go to that terrible planet,” Gamora said, lowering her hand from Peter’s cheek down to his shoulder, rubbing it gently.

“Well,” Peter said, turning his head to face her, “it’s not like you knew he was a megalomaniacal dickhead.”

“True,” Gamora said, “But if I’d been more perceptive, more skeptical…. If I even suspected him for killing your mother, I would have slain him on sight.” Her eyes shifted from loving and comforting, to blazing with an intense hatred toward Ego.

“I know, baby. I know.” Peter took her hand off his shoulder and held it up to his mouth, pressing light kisses all over her palm.

"I'm glad you didn't join him," she said, watching him as her wrathful expression changed back to its previous softness. “Not just for our sake’s, or the universe’s. But also for yours.

He nodded, turning her hand and pressing one more long, reassuring kiss to the back of her hand. "Me too. I would've gotten bored _so_ fast without you guys. This is way better. I know we won’t live forever, but at least we’ll be together.”

"Together," Gamora echoed, and they lay together in comfortable silence, watching the stars.


	7. Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter comes back to Gamora after a mission. (I would place this about 2 months after Vol. 2.)

"Home sweet home," Peter announced, arriving from his reconnaissance mission with Rocket and Groot. He had been a little hesitant to bring Groot along, but Rocket assured him it would be okay, and it was. Gamora stayed behind on the ship with Drax and Mantis.

The moment Peter first caught sight of Gamora, he wasn’t surprised to see her standing at the top of the boarding staircase on the Benatar, arms crossed over her chest. Her lips looked  pale, like she’d been biting them for the past few hours. She’d been worried. His own mouth spread into a wide grin as he slowly finished climbing the stairs to meet her.

When Peter did, she didn’t move an inch. He slowly wrapped his arms around her, arms still crossed, but her eyes softened as he enveloped her in his warm embrace. He sighed, fully content to be here with her. “Mmm, feels so good to be back.”

“You smell like garbage,” she muttered, then lowered her arms and slid them up his back to return his hug.

“Aw,” he said, still grinning, “missed you too, babe."  
  
“Go take a shower,” she said, suddenly taking her hands off his back and putting them on his shoulders to lightly push him toward the bathroom.

“All right,” Peter said good-naturedly, lowering his arms from around her back and heading to the bathroom.

When he peeked over his shoulder at her, she was smiling and shaking her head in amusement.

Warmth bloomed in Peter’s chest. Gamora had the best sense of smell on the team. That she had hugged him back despite his stench.... that was true love.

And if she was willing to touch him when he smelled _this_ bad....

Peter hurried toward the shower. Suddenly, he was _very_ eager to get clean again.


	8. Coming Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter comes back to Gamora after a mission away. Just some fun, quick domestic slice-of-life fluff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tend to think of the Milano/Benatar as the Guardians' home but honestly couldn't think of another title for this drabble. And I'd like to think that Peter basically thinks of being with Gamora as home, wherever they are. (I'd set this about 2-3 years after Vol. 2.)

“Honey, I’m hooome!” Peter announced upon entering the hotel room he shared with Gamora. He’d just arrived from his recon mission with Rocket and Mantis.

There was a holodesk set up several yards away from the door, and Peter crossed the distance quickly, over to where Gamora was pouring over digital blueprints. She was standing, half bent over the table, her back facing him as he approached her.

Slowly, he reached out to touch her arms. She made a quiet hum of recognition and he hugged her from behind. He sighed as he practically melted against her. “Did you miss me?”

“You smell like garbage. Did you hide in a dumpster again?” she said, but didn’t pull away from him. Though he couldn’t see her expression, he could picture her wrinkling her nose and looking absolutely adorable (but he wouldn’t dare tell her that.)

“For a few minutes,” he said. “And I missed you too, babe.”  
  
“Go take a shower,” she said, finally turning around, only to push him lightly toward the bathroom. It was a small room, so she didn’t have to push him far. But when he saw her face, he noticed the hint of a smile playing upon her lips. 

“Y’know,” he said, trying to sound casual, “We’re not meeting up with the others for a couple hours…. And I’m happy to report that you were right about the Kree purists setting up camp in that warehouse. So, I was thinking, y’know, if….”

“I’ll join you in five minutes,” she said in a low tone, her smile spreading a little before she turned back to tap on the holoscreen.

Peter gazed at her, still not quite believing how lucky he was. “Yes, ma’am!” he practically sang, and headed toward the bathroom with a skip in his step.


	9. Explanation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is why no one ever asks Peter why he loves Gamora.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not exactly sure when this takes place, so I'll say a few weeks after Volume 2. This is mostly a stream of consciousness, because I can relate to Peter a lot!

For all his talk about everything and nothing, if questioned why he loves Gamora, he would find it difficult to put into a simple sentence.

But that doesn’t stop him from constantly thinking how he feels about her. 

When she walks into whichever room he happens to be in, his eyes go directly to her. She’s like a beacon, a force of nature, commanding everyone’s attention, but especially his.

Her hair smells _so damn good_. He doesn't know what she puts in it (once he smelled her shampoo, and was surprised to find it odorless), but it…. _does_ something to him whenever he's close to her.

Maybe his feelings for her are so strong because they didn't do anything sexual right after they met. Their relationship was like a dance to him. Every smile, every chuckle he evoked from her was a triumph. Every eye roll and reprimand was a challenge for him to do better.

And he wanted to be with her. He lost track of the days since he had last gotten laid. That had become a distant memory, rather than an itch he needed to scratch and get it over with. His old self prob would've thought his new mindset pathetic, like Drax did, but Peter just didn't find it appealing to run off with another woman.

So, if asked about his love for Gamora, Peter would find it difficult to fully express himself in words.

This is why nobody ever asks him about his feelings for her. Even the other Guardians wouldn't dare.

Because they knew that if they did, once Peter would start talking about Gamora, he would probably never stop.


	10. Faith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gamora and Peter share a moment after Yondu's funeral.

Gamora doesn’t believe in soulmates.

She used to, once, whenever she had seen her parents together. But her memories of them are jagged and faded. After enduring a lifetime of pain, torture, misery had made her believe that might be a lie. Cold comfort that lovers tell themselves and each other. She had thought of love as a curse, instead of destiny.

She leans forward and kisses Peter without pausing to think about it.

One second, he’s rambling, fiddling with his new music player as they sit side by side on what was Yondu’s bed and is now his.

The next second, her lips brush against his, and when she pulls away, he looks like he was in shock for a moment.

“Peter?” she asks

“Woah,” he says and his mouth widens into a dreamy smile, “best kiss of my life.”

“Mine too,” she says, unable to hold back her own smile. Seeing Peter happy and glowing after looking so upset while the Guardians laid Yondu to rest... His tears had made her heart clench. She’s determined, now more than ever, to see him look more like this, instead of how he looked when his father, his _real_ one, was lying cold on a table in front of him.

And if a fire burns in her lower belly as she gazes at him, well, that’s okay too.

Gamora still doesn’t believe in soul mates.

But now she believes in her feelings for Peter.


	11. Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter loses the enthusiasm he once had to be adored by tons of women. Because these days, there's only one woman he has eyes for.

Being a 2-time galaxy saver has its perks. At first, Peter loved the attention. Now, not so much.

A group of adoring women are crowded around him during a busy night in the Guardians’ favorite bar on Xandar. Peter used to like coming here to tell about his heroics during the battle with Ronan, but now, almost half a year afterward, he’s hanging onto his composure by a thread.

“Look,” he tells one of them, gently stopping her by the wrist so she won’t run her perfectly manicured nail down his cheek again. “It’s been nice meeting you. Thanks for all the drinks. But I gotta get back to my crew. They need me.” He glances all the way across the bar to his team, his family.

….. And they look like they’re having a blast without him.

“I don’t think so,” a Krylorian croons at Peter’s other side. “Stay here with us a while longer, honey.”

That does it. Peter abruptly pushes back his chair and stands up, sighing as he taps his account information into the small metal unit transfer box above the table. Months ago, Peter wouldn’t have bothered, but he feels a bit guilty about leaving behind his fan club.

The women crowded around him try arguing, pleasing, insisting he stay, they could buy him a drink, just five more minutes and maybe a photo or two.

A Xantha strolls up to the group as Peter confirms payment for the group’s tab. “Give it a rest, he’s taken.” She nods over at Gamora sitting in the large booth reserved for the Guardians, clapping as Groot does a few acrobatics across the table.

“Her?” one of the women says, unable to keep the disbelief, or maybe disdain, out of her voice. “I thought that was just a rumor. Baby, you know you could have anyone you want in the galaxy, right? Like me.”

“And me,” another woman adds.

“And me!”

“Maybe,” Peter says. “But there’s only one woman who can call me that, and she’s sitting right over there.”

Before Peter even approaches the booth, Gamora has already slid over to make room for him. He lowers himself down onto the cushiony seat, sighing in relief this time, as she hands him her glass of Xandarian ale.

"You're not even the least bit jealous?" he asks, surprised. He’s seen her jealous of other women flirting with him before, not just the vindictive gold woman. Maybe it’s the alcohol talking, even though she can handle her liquor better than the rest of the Guardians’ combined, she’s a lot more physically affectionate with him than usual. She’s sitting so close to him their sides press up against each other, and he can smell her hair, light and sweet, probably his favorite scent in the whole galaxy.

"What's to be jealous about?” she asks, leaning over to murmur in his ear. “They're not the ones who will be going to bed with you tonight.”

"You got that right," he murmurs, closing the distance to kiss her. Across the bar he can hear a few of his fan club members wailing, but a couple others sound charmed.

When Gamora deepens the kiss, it’s like all the sounds in the bar suddenly become muted.

"You can talk to other women without me, you know," she says when they reluctantly part.

“Yeah, but I don't want you to think I’m gonna…. wander."

“You wouldn’t,” she says confidently as he takes in a long sip, then hands her back her drink. On the table, Groot starts doing cartwheels.

"Because you'd skin me alive if I did?"

She turns to look at him and suddenly all he can see in the bar is her. “Because I trust you, Peter. With everything." She lowers her free hand to rest it over his heart, and he realizes how much he never wants to screw this up, this now-spoken thing he has with her.

“Besides,” she adds, “If you ever slept with another woman, Drax and Nebula would get to you first.”

“Oh, yeah,” Peter says, starting to grin. “They’d rip me right to shreds.”

“There wouldn’t be any pieces left to identify you,” Gamora says solemnly.

“I’d be a total goner,” Peter breathes, leaning back in for another kiss.

Before he knows it, he and Gamora are chased out of the VIP area by a scandalized Rocket as he shields Groot’s eyes from their tongue action, and the lovebirds make a hasty retreat back to their ship, hand in hand, eager to continue where they left off.


	12. Pet Names

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter tries out some terms of endearment on Gamora. It doesn't go well.... mostly.

When Peter called Gamora ‘Baby’ for the first time, she stared at him for a long moment, and he started to sweat.

“Uh,” he said. “Did I say something wrong?”

“Why did you call me Baby?’” She asked, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. “I’m not a Baby. Certainly not your baby.”

“It’s just a term of endearment,” Peter said, trying to smooth things over as the others watched them, heads moving back and forth from Gamora to Peter as if they were watching a match of Kawaball. “We’ve got a bunch of them on my home planet, so if that doesn’t work for you…. How about Honey?"

Gamora shook her head. “I’m not sticky sweet syrup.”

“Oookay,” Peter said, and he was really sweating. “What about Darling?”

“I don't like it.”

“Sweetie?”

“Now you're really pushing it,” Rocket said from the far end of the room.

“Okay final offer. Babe.”

Gamora appraised him and then with a slow now said “I'll allow it.”

Peter did a celebratory fist pump. “Yes!”

Gamora shook her head but Peter could tell she was trying to hide an amused smile.

After a while, the other pet names eventually grew on Gamora.

Peter could tell, because she was the one using those names on _him._


	13. Tag Team

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Surrounded by Kree sympathizers in battle, it doesn't look too good for Peter.... until Gamora shows up.

Peter was in trouble.

Surrounded by Kree sympathizers who were armed to the teeth and advancing on him, he shot as much of them down as he could, but they kept coming.

“Guys?” he asked through the communications device in his mask, “little help here!"

"I'm busy!!" Rocket said.

Peter dodged the volley of lasers directed at him, but there were too many for him to fully avoid. One zapped him in the leg and he yelled as he fell to the ground.

The group of radicals advanced on him. They ceased firing on him, but as Peter kept backing up against a rock wall that sloped up into a plateau, their leader said, “If you think we’re about to let you go, you’re more foolish than you look.”

“Hey!” As he kept backing up, clutching onto his leg, Peter lifted one blaster with his free hand. Even as his arm shook, he managed to take down about three more of the cretins.

They still kept coming, their leader smiling – or what could pass for a smile for an ugly jerk with mandibles.

“We’ll kill you slowly by ripping you apart,” the leader said, as his followers formed a semi-circle around Peter, stowing their guns and getting out sharp, wicked-looking blades, “But don’t worry, we’ll keep your head intact. It would make a decent trophy on my wall.”

“You know, I’d be flattered,” Peter said, grimacing as he pulled his injured leg up toward his chest, “But I’ve heard that so much by now, it just doesn’t feel like you mean it.”

He reached behind his back, grabbed a grenade and threw it at the leader’s feet.

“What?” he shrieked and Peter detonated the bomb.

It only took out about six of them, but the others who remained broke ranks ran toward Peter.

He picked up his blaster again and lay there, shooting at them even though he knew he couldn’t kill all of them.

At least he would die fighting.

He saw a flash of green and pink as someone jumped down from the plateau above him, landing on one of the ugly brutes and slicing his head off in one move.

Gamora let out a fierce, long battle cry as she extended her sword. It shined beautifully as Peter watched from his position on the ground, entranced as Gamora spun around, her hair a blazing flame as her blade ran clean through the rest of the gang.

When the last of them dropped down dead, she ran over to Peter, kneeling at his side. She was breathing hard, her green face a slightly darker shade. Her hair was damp with sweat and her eyes had a wild glint to them, bloodlust he recognized, But when her eyes locked on his her gaze softened, and her deadly glint went away.

“Are you okay?” she held out her hand, looking concerned.

Blood was drying on her clothes and dripping off the edge of her sword. She was covered in dust and the entrails of her enemies.

As he took her hand and let her pull him up, as she put her arm around him and instructed him to lean on her for support until they made it back to the ship, Peter Quill realized once again that he had never been more in love.


	14. Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter's not the only one who has nightmares.

After months of grieving, of nights spent jerking awake because of nightmares that bled into one another, seeing Yondu’s dead body and then his mother lying cold in her hospital bed with that monster Ego laughing over her, Peter couldn’t take it anymore.

He was so desperate not to sleep that he even sat with Rocket in the cockpit while he was on the night shift.

“We should find another job, something easy,” Rocket said when he looked over at Peter, noticing the dark circles under his eyes. “Get your mind off of what happened.”

Peter shrugged, mumbled “Yeah, that might be a good idea” and took out his zune to start tinkering with it.

Someone screamed from somewhere in the back of the ship. It was faint but Peter could hear it. Rocket’s ear picked up but Peter was already racing to Gamora’s bunk.

"Nebula!" she screamed, and Peter saw her thrashing in her bed when he opened the door. "No! Leave her alone!"

"Gamora, wake up," Peter said, shaking her a little.

She sat up and pulled a knife on him, holding it to his throat. He knew it was out of instinct, that she thought he was attacking her, but he froze anyway. “It’s me, Peter. You were having a nightmare.”

“Peter,” she whispered, and with a shaking hand, took her knife away from his throat. He breathed a sigh of relief that she recognized him in the dim light.  He could see her due to the light shining from outside her room. She looked horrified. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…. Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” Peter assured her. “You’re safe here. Nebula’s safe too. You talked to her on the holo yesterday.”

“Thanos was torturing her,” Gamora said, rubbing her face. “In my dream, he was cutting off her other arm.”

“That’s horrible.” Gamora nodded and Peter didn’t know what to say. He wanted to offer her more comfort but didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable.

“I’ll get you some water.” Peter turned to leave but Gamora stopped him by putting her hand over his, gently.

“I don’t need any. But will you stay here, with me? I don’t want to be alone.” Gamora looked as tired as Quill felt.

He nodded, happy that she asked him to stay, but sad because of the reason. He wished she didn’t have so many terrible nightmares. Maybe the team needed a break instead of going on another mission, so soon after Yondu’s death. It would build morale, Peter thought.

Gamora scooted over in her small bunk and for a moment Quill stood there, confused. Despite their Unspoken Thing which Gamora had confessed to him a week ago, they hadn’t acted on it. He was surprised she wanted him to sleep with her, literally sleep, but share such close quarters with her. She was a private person normally, and didn’t let many people into her personal space.

Peter slipped into beside her and squished together, they barely fit on the same bed. Peter didn’t mind though he tried not to press Gamora against the wall. She turned over on her side, facing him and after hesitating, put her arms around his back and sighed, not out of exasperation like usual, but out of relief, it seemed like. And comfort. Peter sighed too and scooted closer, now that there was more room on the bed for them to fit.

“Thank you for waking me up,” Gamora said, sounding like she was going to fall back asleep. “I feel better now.”

“I do too,” he whispered, and after a while, slowly put his arm around her from below. She hummed and rested her head on his shoulder.

Soon, she fell back asleep with Peter rubbing her back in comfort. He slipped into sleep too, and they spent the rest of the night in each other’s arms, not having any nightmares, just peaceful slumber.


	15. Privacy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the Benatar and with the Zune, Gamora gets the urge to dance while she's alone.... or so she thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the time line might be a bit wonky in this chapter, since I pictured Gamora on the new ship. I think the Guardians would’ve bought a new one after they discovered they could either 1) not locate the Milano or 2) not repair it back to working order. But Peter and Gamora aren't acting like a couple in this chapter. In this specific chapter (a week after Volume 2), they decide to give each other space to work through their own issues before starting to kiss, date and the like, which is why they seem more they would after Volume 1. I apologize for the confusion. It makes more sense in my head. And the song I pictured her listening to is Hey Ya by Outkast. Fun song! I have fond memories of dancing to it and wanted to recapture that feeling here, letting Gamora dance freely with it.  
> Thanks to anyone who is still reading this!

Gamora noticed the Zune, Peter’s new prized music device, sitting on the long table in the common area of their new ship.

Slowly, she picked it up.

And before she could stop herself, she placed the strange looking small pods in her ears , one by one, like she saw Peter do many times.

She turned on the Zune, and let out a sharp, undignified yelp when the music reached her modified eardrums. The device fell out of her arms and clattered onto the table, nearly pulling the pods out of her ears as well.

But they stayed in. Heart pounding, Gamora grabbed up the Zune and lowered the volume as quickly as she could. She got it down to a level that was quiet enough for her, her head pounding a bit.

There was a fast percussion beat and a man singing – about what, Gamora wasn’t certain, because he was singing so quickly. But that didn’t matter.

What mattered was the rhythm.

Gamora stood there, all alone on the Benatar, and after taking a quick mental tally of where the others were at as she tapped her boot on the floor, she realized everyone else was gone, scouring the local market for food, weapons, and who knew what else.

She was all alone, and so she could dance.

Gamora held the Zune in one hand as she whirled around the small common area, shaking her hips back and forth like she’d seen Peter do. She lost herself in the steady, fast beat, and even clapped a few times along with the singer.

She’d just done a full revolution on the spot, when she heard from afar:

“Ah HAH!”

Gamora stumbled as she whirled around, finding none other than Peter standing about five feet away from her, grinning as though he found some long lost treasure.

“Peter!” she cried, yanking the pods out of her ear, her face burning with embarrassment. “How long have you been there?”

“I literally just got here,” he said, still grinning.

“I could stab you right now,” she said, breathing a bit too hard now that she was standing still again. “Then no one would know I was....”

“Having a good time?” Peter squinted his eyes as he put out one hand and gestured it toward her. She had come to ascertain it was a matter of fact gesture, not a threatening one. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell Rocket.”

“Or Drax?” Gamora asked, drawing back into her shell.

“Or Drax,” Peter said, pulling back his hand and drawing a cross shaped symbol over his heart. She knew that meant he was keeping a promise, and by now, she knew that Peter kept his promises. “Or Groot and Mantis. Your secret’s safe with me.”

“Nebula?” Gamora asked, knowing she was due to call in a day.

“Dammit,” Peter muttered, “Was hoping you’d forget about her.”

“A valiant effort, nonetheless,” Gamora said dryly, wrapping the buds around the Zune as she turned it off and placed it almost reverently back on the table.

“Woah, hey, that’s it? You’re done?” Peter asked, eyeing the Zune as if he too thought it was some sacred object.

“I’m not in the mood anymore,” she said shrugging.

Peter’s eyes widened, then he said, “Okay, hey, I’ll get out of here so you can, uh.... check the logs. Yeah!” He nodded with so much enthusiasm, Gamora almost smiled. He started backing up and almost tripped over one of Rocket’s boxes of scrap metal he tended to leave lying around. “That was intentional,” Peter said, narrowly avoiding falling onto his backside. “I’m gonna go. You stay here, with the Zune. I don’t need it right now.”

“Really.” Gamora cocked her head at him, trying to figure out if he was playing some sort of trick on her.

“Yeah, really.” Peter said, nodding again, and this time Gamora did smile. “You’ve got the whole ship to yourself for another half hour so I’m just gonna....” He gave her another lopsided grin, and Gamora’s chest tightened. They hadn’t spoken much about their ‘unspoken thing,’ not while she knew Peter was still dealing with the loss of Yondu. But Peter looked better than he had in days.

Gamora felt the same.

After Peter turned and raced down to the unloading bay, Gamora turned back to the table to look down at the Zune.

Maybe just one more time. 


	16. Gift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter gives Gamora a portable video hologram recording (like the one the prisoner was looking at in Volume 1) of the two of them dancing.

Peter opens up the portable 3D hologram to check that it's still working properly. The guy who sold it to him, at a pretty hefty price, assured him of its quality and longevity, but he has to make sure it was working fine before tomorrow

He watches the miniature, transparent version of himself dance in a circle around the miniature version of Gamora. In the recording, the smaller, past version of him puts his arm around her, waving at the camera as he grins. Gamora stands next to him for a long moment, looking exasperated, but then at end she starts to smile, and she takes his hand as they start to dance together. Eventually, Peter takes her hand and guides her out into a spin, and when she spins back to meet him again, she’s laughing.

“Peter?” He jumps a bit and hide the miniature hologram behind his back as Gamora enters their bedroom, the door closing automatically behind her as she steps into the room. “What are you doing?” she asks, her tone sounding somewhere between exasperated and curious when she sees him sitting on their bed with his ears turning red.

“I was just, uh....” He starts, then when she raises her brows in as if to say “Are you kidding me?” he sighs and gently brings the hologram out from around his back, holding it up to her. “I wanted to surprise you for our anniversary tomorrow with this. Should’ve just hid it instead.”

“Hide it, from me?” She smiles and Peter expects her to scoff at his decreasing stealth. “That’s very kind of you, Peter, but I’m fine with seeing it now.”

“It is?” he asks, a bit confused. “You are?”

“Yes, to both,” Gamora says, taking a few steps forward and picking up the miniature hologram so she can see it more clearly. She watches it for awhile as the smaller versions of them dance over the flat metallic surface, and Gamora’s smile fades as she furrows her brow.

Uh oh. “You don’t like it?”

“No, it’s just....” Gamora flicks her eyes up to Peter, then back to the hologram, then back to him. “What do I do with it?”

He lets out a chuckle at her curious expression. “Look at it. Admire it. Don’t we look so good?”

“I don’t understand you, Peter,” she says, still standing there with a nonplussed expression.

Long after their anniversary, Peter catches her opening it when she thinks he’s not looking, and he can see her smiling as she watches the smaller versions of them dance.


	17. First Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before going on his first date with Gamora, Peter talks to the other Guardians. (This is after Volume 2. I have other headcanons where they kiss and date much sooner after Volume 2, but in this case I wanted to write something on what would happen if they waited awhile.) A big round of thanks to those of you who are still reading and leaving kudos and comments!

 

"Gamora and I are going on a date tonight," Peter announced, so happy he could sing. So he did, as he began dancing around the Guardians’ new ship, strumming an imaginary guitar.

"Cut that out," Rocket groaned, rubbing his tiny hands over his face. He turned around to look up at Groot, who was bobbing his head as he swung his legs back and forth, perched on the edge of the new table in the middle of the common area. "Oh no, not you too."

"Where are you going?" Mantis asked. Her large eyes glittered with excitement for Peter and Gamora’s first date.

They had decided, after Yondu’s funeral, to take things slow. Now that it was a few weeks later, Peter realized if Yondu were still alive, he would just yell at Peter to stow his tears and be happy with his girl. So Peter asked Gamora, with his heart thudding in his chest, if she wanted to go out. When she said yes and went to the shower to start getting ready, Peter thought his heart would burst right out of his chest. He was glad when it didn’t, since he kinda needed it.

"Gonna take her dancing!" Peter said, picking up his longcoat from the back of his chair and shrugging into it. "Do you think I should shave?" he asked, running his hand over his five o’clock shadow. "It’s the nicest restaurant on the planet. I had to namedrop us to get us a private table and everything. Maybe I should clean up a little."

"What for? You will still look ridiculous in that coat," Drax said, and Peter quickly shrugged off his long coat.

"Maybe I’ll stick to this," he said hastily. "It’s not that cold out. But I’ll bring it anyway, in case Gamora gets cold." He draped the coat over his arm.

"I hope you have a wonderful time together!" Mantis said, putting her hands on her face because she was so excited. "Oh! What are you going to talk about?"

"Whatever comes naturally," Peter said, not worried about that part, or the dancing. Peter never worried about talking. It was one of the things he was best at.

"I’ll just use the language of love," he added to Mantis, and she nodded happily.

But when Peter looked at Rocket, he noticed Rocket was staring at him in horror.

"Don't…. don't say that ever again," Rocket said.

"It’s better than him singing to her," Drax pointed out.

"I am Groot." 

"Ugh, " Peter said, sighing, "You three are no heeeeelp…."

He dragged out the last word as Gamora approached the group. She was wearing a shimmering, backless black dress with a slit on the side, going up to her thigh. Her hair was in a half updo and a few tendrils of it fell down the sides of her face. She was wearing the earrings Peter had given her after the Guardians’ trip to Xandar, to buy the new ship.

"Ready to go?" Gamora asked, and the group stared at her, stunned.

"Have fun!" Mantis said, as Peter walked over to Gamora.

"Wow, " he said, gazing at her like she was the only person on the ship. "I just… you look… wow."

"Thank you, Peter," she said, smiling, and he dramatically bowed, offering her his arm, the one without the coat hanging on it. She bit back a laugh as she put her arm in his as they turned to head off the ship.

"If that’s his version of the ‘language of love,’" Rocket said after they were gone, snickering, "They’re gonna be back faster than you can say, ‘Quill’s a big freakin’ moron."

Drax laughed, loudly, but Gamora and Peter stayed out all night, dancing and sharing an exquisite meal together.

Afterward, they took a long stroll through the town’s gardens, and Peter offered Gamora his coat.

She wore it when they shared their first kiss in the center of the gardens, under the shining moons.


	18. Protection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gamora protects Peter all the time. It takes him a while to get used to it. (This is after Volume 2.)

Gamora protects Peter all the time, in battles and in bar fights (mostly caused by Rocket and Drax). One of Peter's one night stands finds him and chases him out of a bar one night, and again, Gamora saves him.

He can’t help but feel a bit put out by needing to be saved all the time. “I don’t need a bodyguard,” he insists when they’re alone in their shared room, which was previously Yondu’s.

" _I couldn't save you_!" she explodes, whirling around and facing him. "On.... that planet, where Yondu died saving you. I couldn't help you then. I thought you died.... twice. And I could do nothing."

He understands then that she doesn't think he's weak. She just worries about him.

And he says, "Ok. Ok, I get it," and hugs her as she cries.

During their next mission, he finds himself surrounded by enemies, and Gamora flies into a rage, jumping into the fray and going scored earth on all of his attackers.

He picks off several of them with his blasters, but he also watches her slice through their enemies, feeling a sense of awe at the sight of her protecting him with so much passion.

When she shakes the last one off her sword, she turns to look at Peter. He sees the bloodlust fade from her eyes. He sees Gamora coming back to him.

And he understands, truly, why she’s so protective of him. He walks toward her, as though seeing a mirage, and wraps his arm around her in the middle of the battlefield, ignoring the blood and dust all over her clothes.

Slowly, Gamora returns his embrace, and he whispers to her, "I take it back. You can save my ass anytime."

She stifles a laugh into his shoulder, and Peter realizes he’s so lucky to be with the greatest woman in the entire universe.


	19. Priorities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gamora lectures Peter about his carelessness during a dangerous mission, which leads to a fight. (This is about a month after Volume 1.)

"I don't care what you do in your spare time,” she says, beyond irritated after the group barely made it out of a dangerous mission alive, "but you need to think of the group. If you let yourself get too distracted….”

"Hey, you don’t get to tell me that,” he says, bristling. "You're not my mom."

"No I'm not," she says. "And you are not a child."

She leaves and he doesn't have one of his usual comebacks to that.

‘Tense’ doesn’t begin to describe the new couple days. They avoid each other on the ship, to the point where even Drax notices it. Drax goes back to ignoring them after pointing out their cold shoulders at dinner. Rocket’s reaction is to scratch his head and mutter, "Dunno what’s worse, you two makin’ goo goo eyes at each other all the time, or this."

This is worse, Peter thinks miserably. Much worse.

He can’t sleep that night, just keeps tossing and turning in his bunk. So he goes to the cockpit, and finds Gamora there, cleaning her sword.

"Sorry," he says quickly, turning to leave. "Forgot you were on night watch."

"I wasn’t supposed to be," she says with a sigh, sheathing her sword. Peter would be lying if he said he didn’t feel immensely relieved that she stowed it away. He had almost expected her to stab him on sight. A part of him wouldn’t blame her. "Rocket was supposed to be on watch, but I couldn’t sleep so I changed shifts with him. This way he can watch over Groot." The tiny sapling looks like he was about to jump out of his pot any moment now, so someone has to keep an eye on him.

"Good thinking," Peter says too quickly, and Gamora rolls her eyes as she taps the monitor in front of her, checking their coordinates.

Silence falls over them as Peter walks past Gamora to gaze out at the stars. When he passes her, he does so slowly, cautiously, knowing that she could crush his windpipe without breaking a sweat.

As if she could read his thoughts, she says, "I’m not going to kill you, Peter. I just want you to be more careful when we’re on a mission."

He immediately wants to protest, tell her that he had everything under control. He was just listening to his music as they worked. It wouldn’t have been a big deal if that giant cavern spider hadn’t jumped out at them.

He turns to look at her, and his protests die in his throat.

"I know," he says, with a long sigh, but it’s out of regret, not exasperation. "I shouldn’t have done that, and I’ll try to pay more attention. I’m sorry."

Gamora tilts her head to one side, as if she’s reading him like a manual, and Peter wonders if she’ll believe him.

"I shouldn’t have talked down to you like that," Gamora says after a long moment of silence, and Peter feels so relieved, he grins. "You’re right. I’m not your mother."

"Nope," Peter agrees emphatically, feeling warmth in his chest (and something else) when he looks at Gamora. "You definitely aren’t."

They spend the


	20. Comfort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter has to stop in the middle of making out with Gamora, because he thinks about Yondu.

They were making out on the large bed they had claimed as their own, when Peter suddenly pulled away from Gamora, gasping for breath. When she saw that his eyes were red and filled with tears, she knew there was only one explanation for his sudden change in demeanor

Gamora rolled over onto her other side, toward the night stand, on which sat a tin container of water. She gave it to Peter and, gratefully, he took the cup, draining it of every last drop and nearly dropping it onto the bed, as tears began to roll down his cheeks. “Shit,” he muttered as he trembled. Gamora took the cup from the bedspread and placed it back on the night stand, then picked up Peter’s Zune and chose a cheerful, upbeat song for him to listen to. It played on the speaker system Rocket had set up specifically for their room.

Peter shook his head. “Not that one.”

Gamora flipped through the next few songs, until Peter said “Yeah, this one,” and he sighed and held out his hand, still sitting on the bed.

Gamora took his hand and eventually, Peter moved his hand from hers to her back as he embraced her.

“Damn blue bastard,” Peter choked out, bringing his hand up from her back to wipe his eyes. “Still cockblocking me, even after you’re gone.”

Gamora didn’t say anything, just ran her hand soothingly over Peter’s back.

“Sorry for killing the mood,” he said, and she moved her hand from his back up to his hair, where she carded his curls.

“There is nothing for you to feel sorry for,” she said.

“Thank you,” he whispered, and they both held each other until they fell asleep, Peter’s tears drying in Gamora’s hair.


	21. Parenting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gamora takes issue with the others taking Groot out to a bar, and she and Peter discuss the matter.

Gamora crossed her arms over her chest as she glared at the others, who were all gathered around the _Milano_ ’s entrance. “You all must be joking, right now.”

“Why would we be joking? What’s the harm?” Rocket asked, throwing a paw around Groot’s shoulders. Groot had just about reached Rocket’s height, which was part of his extremely poor argument in taking Groot out to a Crovilt bar.

“He’s still a child,” Gamora said. “It could be dangerous.”

Then she turned and left the group as they stood there, gaping at her.

 

Gamora stood on the flight deck of the Milano, looking out through its windshield with her arms crossed over her chest. She gazed up at the two Crovilt moons in the sky, surrounded by a sea of stars. 

“Hey.” Peter said, joining her side. “You sure you don’t want to come?”

She shrugged. “I should keep watch over the ship, anyway.”

She was still annoyed that they were taking Groot with them. He was barely taller than Rocket and shouldn’t be going to a bar. But Groot has been getting agitated, and really wants to go. She would not deny him his freedoms, as she had been denied as a child.

Peter put his arm around her side and gave her a comforting squeeze. “I’ll stay with you, then.”

“No,” she said, but not unkindly as she turned to face him. “You should go with them, and have fun. But please keep an eye on Groot.”

“I’ll never take an eye off him,” he said, sounding so earnest she believed him. Gamora would have found that an odd expression half a year ago, and she wouldn’t have believed him to be so responsible. But they had been together for a while now that she had grown accustomed to his non-literal sayings. And she trusted her not only with her own life, but with the others’ lives.

“When you could back,” she said, curling herself into him and wrapping her arms around his back, “We can have our own private party.”

Peter made an unintelligible sound at that, one her translators couldn’t pick up, but she smiled, understanding the meaning. He returned her embrace and they exchanged a long, deep kiss, illuminated by the stars, before Peter reluctantly turned to go.

Sated (for now), Gamora looked back up at the stars.

Then, with her enhanced hearing, she heard Rocket muttering something that sounded like “you two are disgusting,” under his breath from the loading bay.

“If you don't cut that out,” Peter said, much louder to Rocket “we're having a kid JUST so they can sit on you.”

Gamora couldn’t hold back a laugh at that. They would not have children of their own now, and probably not for a while, but she could tell when Peter was joking.

They (and the other adult Guardians) already had a handful in raising Groot.

But, Gamora thought as she settled in her chair, she wouldn’t have it any other way.


	22. Advice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mantis gives Peter some late-night advice on his budding relationship with Gamora.

“Hi, Mantis,” Peter asked when he saw that she was the only one in the kitchen, on the Quadrant. It was ‘nighttime’ and all the others were asleep. “Getting a late-night snack too?”

“Hmm? Oh, yes,” she said, holding out a thin, brightly colored stick that was covered in what looked like sugar. “Would you like some?”

It did look pretty tempting, but he wasn’t in the mood for a sugar rush right now. “No, thanks.” He went to get some water from the cooler.

“Are you feeling well, Peter? It’s not like you to give up something so delicious.” Mantis asked, swiveling on her stool to face him and bit into the stick. As she chewed, she went on. “You shared an entire bowl with Groot the other.... Mmm, this is so good!”

He sighed. It had been about a week after Yondu’s passing, and he was still reeling over the loss of his true father figure, but…. “Well, I figured it was better that Groot didn’t eat the whole bowl by himself, but.... Yeah, I’ve just been kinda thinkin’ about.... You know what, never mind.” He turned to leave.

“Is this about Gamora?” Mantis asked.

Peter turned back around. “How’d you know?”

“I haven’t spent a lot of time around people, but I do know what attraction looks like,” she said then took another bite of her candy.

“Wow,” Peter said, realizing she was much more perceptive than he thought. “I.... Yeah, I do wanna ask her out on a date. But after everything with Yondu, and all the stuff with her sister....” Peter sighed. “I just didn’t want to make things awkward for her. I wanted to give her space.”

“Well, if you want to, I would suggest asking her out soon,” Mantis said carefully. “You won’t be bothering her.”

“I won’t?” Peter perked up and then his heart started racing. “Okay, if she won’t mind.... I’ll ask her out now!” He began to run out the kitchen, then stopped and doubled back.

“Probably should wait until she wakes up.”

“That would be wise,” Mantis agreed, and bit off another piece of the candy.

“So.... You really don’t think she’ll feel pressured if I ask her to go on a date?” Peter started to get visions in his head of going to a fancy restaurant with her, then dancing afterward. He imagined what it would be like to kiss her outside under the stars, and his face flushed at the thought. But he didn’t want to start down that road if she wasn’t ready for it.

"I know she won’t,” Mantis said confidently, hopping off the stool and walking over to Peter. “She wants to feel wanted. Especially by you."

He face flushed even more at the thought of Gamora wanting him. “Oh,” he said softly. “Did you sense that from her lately? With your powers?"

"No. She told me." Mantis said simply, then handed him the rest of her stick of candy, and walked out the door.

Peter considered the candy, now more a stub than a stick, then ate it, licking the sugar off his fingertips, his heart racing with anticipation.

He wasn’t going to be getting much sleep tonight, anyway.


	23. Loose Feet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter is excited about getting to watch 'Footloose' with Gamora after he manages to find it, but his anticipation is quickly deflated when Mantis slips and reveals to him that Gamora already watched the movie with Rocket.

* * *

“Man, I can’t wait to watch ‘Footloose’ with Gamora,” Peter said as he walked into the kitchen on the Quadrant. Mantis was seated at the counter while Drax used his knives to chop up veggies. She clapped when he finished with a flourish, throwing one knife in the air and catching it deftly.

“Oh, you mean the Earth movie you found on Xandar?” Drax asked. “I still don’t understand why anyone would want to loosen their feet.”

“I thought Gamora already watched it with Rocket,” Mantis said, then seemed to realize that she had divulged a secret and put her hands over her mouth, her eyes wider than usual.

“WHAT?” Peter exploded.

“Peter, this is a good thing,” Drax said. “We shouldn’t be keeping secrets away from each other.”

“We also shouldn’t be watching things without each other....” Peter muttered. Just then, Rocket walked in with Groot hopping excitedly behind him.

“Why did you watch the movie with her?” Peter demanded. “You know I was looking forward to seeing it for the first time in years with her.”

“Thanks a lot,” Rocket said, glaring at Mantis. She mumbled an apology to him from behind her hands. “She watched it with me cause I don’t run my mouth every five seconds, and she could concentrate on it!” Rocket said, then went over to the counter to get some salad for Groot, who suddenly didn’t look all that excited about dinner.

“I don’t run my.... I’ll talk to her about it,” Peter said, patting down his coat to calm himself down.

 

 

“Rocket said you didn’t want to watch ‘Footloose’ with me!” Peter said, totally not whining as he opened the door to Yondu’s old bedroom, which Peter and Gamora now shared. She was doing pullups on the bar in the little workout center and easily jumped down to approach him as he closed the door behind him, fighting back tears.

“Oh, Peter.... It’s not that I didn’t want to watch it with you,” Gamora said, looking guilty. “It’s just that.... I wanted to be able to understand what’s happening, and I knew you’d be excited about it, and....” She couldn’t even continue, knowing that was a poor excuse.

Peter sighed. “I get it. Sometimes I talk too much, and I would’ve ruined the movie for you.”

“Sometimes?” Gamora asked, and when he did a double take to look at her, he saw that her brow was quirked. She was only teasing.

“I guess I wanted it to be a special thing between us, y’know,” he said and went up to him, kissing his cheek.

“I know. We can watch it together later, just the two of us. After we shower,” Gamora said, heading toward their private bathroom with a deliberate swing in her hips.

“We?” Peter asked, but more like croaked as he stared at her hips.

Gamora looked at him over her shoulder, and he forgot all about being upset as he eagerly followed her into the bathroom.


	24. Sacrifice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gamora and Peter distract a Kree radical to keep the other from being tortured.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place 3 years after Volume 2. No one is tortured but there is the threat of it.

So there they were (except for Groot), captured and incapacitated by Kree radicals as each of them sniped at each other, batting the blame around like it was a game of ball. Peter might have pitied their torturer, because he seemed confused about who to start zapping first. But he didn’t feel sorry for the ugly lug.

The Kree started heading toward Gamora, who, like Peter, was shackled to the wall. Stuck to the wall on the opposite side of the disgusting chamber, Peter immediately launched into a barrage of insults at the Kree to distract him, and to become his target. Mantis kept begging him to poke her forehead, but the Kree ignored her.

Peter knew, deep down, this was all his fault, because this had been his plan to infiltrate the Kree base. They had a shot of getting out of this unscathed, because Groot was waiting in a safe distance away from the Kree base, and even though he was still too young to join the Guardians on riskier missions like this (thank goodness he wasn’t here), he was old and capable enough to fly the ship and monitor communications. He’d hopefully get to the base in about ten minutes, but Peter needed to buy time before anyone else got hurt.

“Hey, you don’t wanna torture her, trust me,” Peter said, when he realized his insults weren’t working and the Kree was ignoring him, fiddling with the wattage on his nasty looking torture instrument. “Get over here and shut me up, dude. I’m a screamer.”

“He speaks the truth,” Drax said. “It is most unpleasant to hear him when one is attempting to sleep.”

“I’m tellin’ you, man,” Peter said, raising his voice, “one zap from me and I’m gonna start bawling. _Way_ more fun, don’t you think?”

“Peter, stop,” Gamora muttered, and he started wildly moving his shackled hand as much as he could for her to ‘cut it out,’ as he had explained.

To his delight, the Kree guard whirled around and started stalking toward him.

“I watched your loved ones burn!” Gamora said as the guard aimed his flickering taser toward Peter’s chest. She strained against the metallic cuffs holding her wrists fast against the wall. “Kraytak! Oelong. Do those names mean nothing to you? I could have stopped Ronan from destroying them. Have you no honor?”

Roaring, the guard turned around back toward her.

“Betcha didn’t know how good Terran skin smells when it’s getting fried,” Peter lobbed at the Kree.

“Your cousins are burning in the darkest reaches of Hel because of me!” Gamora screamed.

The guard swung back around to stalk toward Peter, then whirled back around to head to Gamora. In his haste, he ended up zapping himself in the chest, and fell like a ton of bricks onto the cold metal floor, twitching as his torture device fell to the floor next to him, smoking and sparking.

The door swung open and Groot entered. It would look kinda funny, considering how short he was, but the look on his face wasn’t funny at all.

“I AM GROOT!” he shouted, in a mixture of rage and elation at seeing his family members alive but almost in danger of being killed. He quickly set about deactivating the cuffs while Rocket gave him rapid-fire directions.

“You two,” Rocket said, looking at Gamora and Peter as he nimbly dropped to the floor and massaged his wrists, “Are freakin’ insufferable.”

Gamora and Peter ran right to each other the second they were freed as well, and after a lengthy embrace, Gamora frowned up at him. “You shoudn’t risk yourself for me, Peter. You could have died.”

“Look who’s talking,” Peter said, but before he could continue, Gamora silenced him with a kiss.


	25. Anomaly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gamora and Peter know something is wrong when neither of them find the Power Stone, and they look for answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (This is not related to 'Grief' or 'Revival.' Each of these chapters are their own stories.)

Gamora waited, and waited, for the man with the orb who was supposed to drop it off with his buyer and be turned away. She was supposed to take the orb, and kill the man if she had to. But he never came.

Gamora swore she would kill the man if she ever found him.

 

 

Yondu kept trying to contact him, and Peter muted all of his calls. He dropped off the Krylorian girl on Xandar a bit later than usual (he had to evade Yondu’s ships on the way back) and when Peter gave a piece of his mind to the Broker, the doddering dude yelled right back at him and shoved him out the store.

Now what? The orb was supposed to be his ticket out of the Ravagers for good.

Peter usually would’ve gone chasing after any of the girls on Xandar, but for the first time in his life, he didn’t want sex. He wanted answers.

 

 

Gamora didn’t feel right. Not just because she was on the run from her ‘father’ and Nebula, who was likely trying to track her down, but because there was a niggling feeling at the back of her mind that this wasn’t how things were supposed to happen.

She went back to her stolen pod and set a course for Knowhere.

 

 

 

Peter wakes up with a start in his bunk, and he swears he just heard someone laughing loudly up in the cockpit. He could swear he smelled a flowery scent that was new and had a very intense reaction on him.

“Must be losing my mind,” he whispered to himself.

He checks his travel log. After floating aimlessly in space, he realizes that he’s coming up on what looks to be a large alien head.

 

 

 

Gamora walks up to the Collector’s slave, and tells her she’s free to go (“I will take care of Tivan,” Gamora tells her). The woman scurries off right away, as Gamora heads into the Collector’s lair.

He was nowhere to be seen, oddly enough, but before Gamora could make it too far into the lair, a man with a gun jumped out, pointing his blaster at her.

She rolled her eyes. “Where’s Tivan?”

“Yeah, where is he?” a small rodent shouted as he entered on the shoulder of a large tree creature. Another man followed them waving his knives threateningly as he shouted, “I must find Ronan and make him pay for the deaths of my family!”

Gamora stared at the man with the blasters. He drew in a deep breath, and then a strange expression came over his face. “It’s you.”

“What about me?” she asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

“I think I know you from somewhere….” He said, and she wanted to tell him to shut up or she’d kill him in one slice, but…. She studied his face, and she felt like she knew him too.

“I don’t know who you people are, but we’re here for our bounty!” the rodent yelled, aiming his gun at the man who seemed familiar to Gamora. “C’mon humie, you’re with us now!”

“No,” a low voice called out, and Tivan finally entered the lair. “Where is Karina?” he asked, and Gamora shook her head, glaring at him. He sighed. “Ah, well…. You’re probably all wondering why you ended up in this, of all places.”

“I don’t care about that!” the other man with knives shouted. “I only care about Ronan.”

“Ronan is the least of your worries,” Tivan said as he unveiled a small box from one of his counters. “Put all your weapons away, and come here. If you seek answers, this might help you find them.”

“Why are you helping us?” the man in the red jacket said. “What’s in it for you?”

Gamora neared the box, and then, suddenly she realized who had almost just shot her in the face.

It was Peter.

Everyone who had arrived suddenly had realization dawn on their faces, as they approached the box. Gamora turned to look at Peter, and his expression was so different. He looked older, sadder, and wasn’t looking at her like he might have remembered her but that he was in love with her, and had been for years.

She couldn’t remember the details, but she knew she felt the same way about him.

“This reality has been tampered with,” Tivan said, opening the box and revealing a small, red object. Gamora gasped. It was the Reality Stone.

“You’re all not supposed to have met like this. If things aren’t set right, I fear the worst might happen to all of our realities.”

“What do we do?” Gamora asked quickly, as she noticed Rocket hugging Groot as they both cried.

“We have to fix it,” Drax said, and Gamora looked at Groot. He nodded, a sign that he was willing to die all over again to save his family.

“Touch the Stone, all of you, before it’s too late,” Tivan said, backing away. The Guardians surrounded the stone, and Gamora looked right at Peter. They both had tears streaming down their cheeks.

“I love you,” she told him, and he smiled.

“I know.”

Gamora reached out and touched the Stone.

 


	26. Grief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the war, Gamora talks to Quill. But she isn't the one he's known and loved for 4 years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning, character death in this chapter. This made me so sad to write but I couldn't get it out of my head....
> 
> (This is not related to 'Anomaly' or 'Revival.' Each of these chapters are their own stories.)

After the war is done, and the dusted have returned to their rightful place, Gamora makes sure Thanos is dead.

She finds Quill on his ship, all alone, tinkering with the control panel.

“You’ve been avoiding me,” she says.

“Yeah,” he grunts, and doesn’t look at her.

Gamora doesn’t know what to say at first. She should probably leave. It would be for the best.

“You must have been very close,” she says, still standing next to him.

He sighs, continuing to screw something back into place.

“We were together,” he says, his voice thick with longing. “I was so in love with her that it hurt, but in a good way.”

“I think she felt the same way,” Gamora says, and sits on the chair next to him.

“Please,” Quill says, quickly, and Gamora gets up from the chair, knowing why Quill doesn’t want her to sit in it.

He works in silence for a long time as Gamora watches him. Then he finally begins speaking again.

“She’s in a better place. Better than that prison she was stuck in. At least she’s in a better place.”

“Did you get to say goodbye to her?” Gamora asks.

Quill wipes the tears from his eyes, but they keep flowing. “I wanted her to come back so badly. And I know she wanted to. But….”

Gamora nods. He and the Guardians are going to fly to Vormir soon, to collect her body.

This Gamora, the one who is alive and standing next to Quill, will remain on Earth for the Guardians to return. Quill plans to bury the Gamora he’s known next to his mother.

It’s all very strange to this Gamora. She’s still trying to rationalize being yanked out of another universe and nearly pulled into this one. She thinks that the Gamora from this universe had spoken to her, asking her for help to defeat Thanos.

Together, with Nebula and the Avengers’ help, they brought him down for good.

But it had come at a price.

Gamora shakes her head, still confused about all of it. But she knows that it’s nothing compared to the anguish that this Peter feels.

Mantis had offered that Gamora join their team. Gamora doesn’t know if she’s welcome. The other Guardians don’t look like they want her on board with him, and Quill…. He seems so lost. Gamora doesn’t quite understand, because in her universe, she never met him. But she knows of loss in general, and how it can’t ever fully heal.

She doesn’t know if she will join the Guardians. She wants to take some time for herself to adjust to this reality, and to connect with Nebula, whom she hadn’t spoken to in her universe.

Gamora knows that, whether or not she joins the Guardians, she won’t replace the Gamora who has Quill’s heart. He’s only in love with one woman, and this Gamora is different. And that’s fine. This Gamora isn’t looking for romance.

Quill takes a small box out from his pocket and starts to play it. A pleasant melody drifts out from speakers in the ship, and Quill sings along with the song as he repairs his ship, not even bothering to stop his tears anymore.

“Ohhhh, bring me your sweet lovin’….”

She stands silently, listening to Quill and his Gamora’s song.


	27. Revival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gamora returns to life, and to Peter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just had to write this after breaking my own heart with the last ficlet!
> 
> (This is not related to 'Anomaly' or 'Grief.' Each of the chapters in this series are their own stories in separate "what if?" ideas.)

When Peter comes back to life, rebuilt from dust, he’s not on Titan anymore.

“What….” He starts to say, but can’t finish. He’s on a field, surrounded by others who are rematerializing, grasping at their own bodies to make sure they’re alive.

“Drax!” Peter calls out joyfully, when he sees the Guardians huddled in a group nearby. “You’re all alive!”

“You came back!” Rocket cries as he heads toward the group and jumps up into Groot’s arms.

Peter throws his arms around Drax, apologizing to him and Mantis and everyone that he’s sorry, he didn’t mean to screw things up, he’ll make it right and kill Thanos himself. But no one’s really listening to him because everyone’s crying and apologizing to him too.

“I’ll kill him. I swear I will!” he promises. “For Gamora.”

“You don’t need to,” someone says from behind him, in such a familiar tone, and he turns around, staring in awe at the most wonderful woman in the galaxy.

“I already did,” she says, smiling widely, and crying. Peter’s vision blurs with tears of his own. “Well, technically, Nebula did. But I helped.”

“YES!” Peter shouts, rushing forward and scooping up Gamora in his arms. He spins her around as she laughs, and when he puts her down, he meets her lips with so much intensity, the others start telling them to ‘get a room.’

“Maybe later,” Gamora says, with promise in her eyes, and Peter’s so happy he starts crying all over again as the other Guardians rush forward to surround both of them in a group hug.


	28. Reassurance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the war, Gamora asks Doctor Strange about the other futures he saw.

It’s midnight when the green woman approaches the sorcerer in the courtyard, as he sits on top of a stone bench and staring up at the stars.

“Let me guess,” he says when she comes to a halt in front of him, “You’d like to know what I saw on Titan.”

She nods, and Strange considers his answer carefully.

Since she’s alone, her boyfriend must be asleep, back in the Avengers’ compound. Quill’s demeanor had done a complete 180 since Strange had seen him. On Titan he had been extremely distressed, agitated, snapping at his fellow humans nearly every chance he got. After the battle and his reunion with the green woman standing before Strange, Quill looked whole again, centered, and happy. So it comes as no surprise to Strange that the man is likely passed out in bed, content and exhausted after helping in the battle against Thanos, to right his wrongs as well as Thanos’s. And there was all the celebration and dancing Quill had done after that.

Strange had caught glimpses of this version of Quill, but Strange had not seen Gamora asking him to explain what he’d seen on Titan.

Where could he even begin? Would she want to know about the timelines in which the group never even managed to incapacitate Thanos? Strange had seen a few of those, which ended in darkness very quickly.

He had tried to advise everyone to hand over the stone, and everyone took that.... very badly.

There was the timeline in which he didn’t tell them, but tried offering the Time Stone to Thanos even before the fight began. Quill, Stark and Drax rushed at Strange, and all 3 of them were killed by Thanos in an instant for getting in his way.

Strange had tried telling the group on Titan what would happen. It was a risky move, but he was getting desperate. He told them that Gamora was already dead, and that Tony needed to stay alive, no matter what. Quill acted like he didn’t believe Strange, but was so distraught that he couldn’t wait for the surprise attack when Thanos arrived, and rushed at the Mad Titan. Thanos ended up killing him, the boy, and Stark.

No, Strange realizes, focusing on Gamora again. It wouldn’t do much good to tell her about those timelines.

“In every timeline we had Thanos pinned down, at least 12 million of them,” Strange says, and Gamora hitches in her breath in anticipation. “Quill reacted the same way when he heard you were killed. He was devastated, and enraged beyond mere words. Most of the time, he shot Thanos, and we failed. Other times, he tried seizing the gauntlet so he could put it on, in hopes to bring you back. We failed those times, too.”

“I see,” Gamora says, slowly, and even in the darkness, Strange can see her eyes well up with tears.

“If it helps,” Strange offers, “I did stop him in many of the timelines. I kept him from attacking Thanos, or getting the gauntlet. None of those attempts worked in our favor.”

“They didn’t?” Gamora asks, looking confused. “So.... he was supposed to attack Thanos, all along?”

“I don’t know if it was destined to happen that way, or if luck was involved,” Strange admits, nodding at his Cloak, who was also waiting curiously for his response. “But however you want to take it, he never reacted differently when he heard you were gone.”

She’s quiet for a long moment, taking that in. She must have discussed the matter with him, and forgive him for his lapse in judgement – and Quill did, after all, aid in the battle against Thanos. But she still clearly wanted answers, and Strange hoped that she could have some peace of mind now.

“Thank you,” she says. “For that and for.... Everything.”

 

 

The next day, when Strange wakes, he thinks that perhaps they’ll separate because of Quill’s actions. It’s not an entirely upsetting thought to Strange; he has other, more important matters to dwell upon.

But he does see them sitting together in an intimate way in a corner of the recreation room. She’s got her arms around him, as he has his arms around her, and they look content together.

When they both look up as he passes by, they give him a wave, and Gamora gives him another grateful nod.

He thinks that maybe, whatever reservations she had about Quill’s actions on Titan, won’t come between them now.

Because their love, as Strange can see, is stronger than 12 million timelines.


	29. New Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the war, Mantis finds out that Gamora is pregnant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna be coy in the summary but am going to add the pregnancy tag anyway so might as well be up front about it. This is not in relation to any of the other chapters, each individual drabble or ficlet is in in a universe of its own.

When Mantis brushes past Gamora on the Benatar, she stops in her tracks and gasps. Tears spring to her eyes, and she looks right at Gamora, who’s also frozen in place.

"You're...." Mantis starts.

"What?” Gamora asks, cautiously.

"Gamora, you’re....”

She opens her mouth to snap at Mantis, tell her to be more careful, but instead she sighs. “Yes. I am.”

"Are you going to tell him?"

Gamora’s expression changes from shocked to worried, and leaves.

 

 

 

She puts his hand on her belly, keeps it there. She looks up at him and he stares at her belly then looks at her.

"Wow." He says, raising a hand to cup his mouth in shock. “I just.... Wow.”

She sighs. "I know."

"I mean this is...." he puts another hand on her stomach in reverence then kisses her forehead. ”Amazing. You’re amazing.”

"I didn't know I could get pregnant,” she admits. “I wasn't sure, but we don't have the right equipment to check. And I didn't want to make us dock just so I could check with everything going on... Then Mantis accidentally touched me as I walked past her, and she felt it. Somehow, Mantis can sense him. Her. I don’t know." Gamora puts her hands on Peter’s, over her stomach. "You can't feel anything now, but it's there."

"I believe you,” Peter says immediately. “So what are you going to do?"

She looks up at him, and notices that tears are shining in his eyes. He’s overwhelmed with emotions, and so is she.

Thanos is gone. The Guardians came back to life and helped defeat him, and now Gamora is free to do whatever she wants.

“I’m going to keep fighting,” she says, taking one of her hands off his and lifting it to cup his face. “For our newest Guardian.”

He grins widely and leans in to kiss her, moving his arms to wrap them around her back, but gently.

Whatever the future holds, for them and their future child, they will be together, and that’s all Gamora needs.


	30. Life Line

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gamora loves Peter's hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (This chapter contains childbirth.)
> 
> And that's all she wrote! For this series, anyway. Thank you to everyone who read, commented and gave kudos!

Gamora loves Peter’s hands.

She loves his hands, even knowing that he used them to steal from others. He doesn’t do that anymore, she’s made sure of that.

She remembers that after they purchased the Benatar, when she couldn’t sleep she would get up and join Peter in the cockpit while he was on ‘night’ watch. She would sit in Rocket’s chair and watched Peter guide the ship with his practiced, callused hands, already familiar with the controls of the new ship.

She remembers watching him high five Groot whenever they would pass each other, the little tree growing bigger seemingly every day.

She remembers all the times she’s looked at him as he held his blasters, almost always confidently, except for the one time his hands shook, when he was aiming the gun at her.

She knows just how skilled his hands are in bed, when he’s holding her and touching her, making her the happiest woman in the galaxy.

And she loves his hands most of all, now, when he’s delivering their baby. He talks Gamora through it, saying she’s incredible and she’s almost done.

When she is, his hands are gentle, on her and their child, Meredith, as he brings her into the world, and then passes her along into her mother’s waiting hands.


End file.
